The good God made all creatures, great and small, then man in his own image. He didn't create any AFTER the original sin.
So, for your pleasure: some of the finest creatures our tender and loving God made for us BEFORE we angered him:
(Just imagine how it would have been the other way around )

The guinea worm
A beautiful creature lurking in stagnant water. When larvae grow to adulthood, the worms crawl through the human body and sometimes come out and take a peek.

I find creatures like this extremly fascinating! The nastiest one i've heard of is the Blue-ringed octopus:

The venom will paralyse your muscles, including those you use to breathe, which will lead to cardiac arrest from lack of oxygen. There is no cure, so all you can do is lie there, unable to move or do anything until you die

Well, it's not exactly on topic, but I've learned today some stuff that is indeed the "miracle of creation". My brother goes to medical university and today I had the opportunity to go to a lecture on how the sex organs developed. One of the most interesting thing was that there are a lot of "developmental remains" . These microscopic remains have no function whatsoever they are just remains of some organs that developed to other organs over time with the development of the embryo. I just wonder why was that necessary for God unless he wanted to fool us (in which he succeeded for sure)

..."we can be truly free - not because we can rebel against the the tyranny of the selfish replicators but because we know that there is no one to rebel."
Susan Blackmore : The Meme Machine

Belladonna is one of the most toxic plants found in the Western hemisphere. All parts of the plant contain tropane alkaloids. The berries pose the greatest danger to children because they look attractive and have a somewhat sweet taste. The consumption of two to five berries by children and ten to twenty berries by adults can be lethal. The root of the plant is generally the most toxic part, though this can vary from one specimen to another. Ingestion of a single leaf of the plant can be fatal to an adult.

(05-05-2011 05:24 AM)Thammuz Wrote: The good God made all creatures, great and small, then man in his own image. He didn't create any AFTER the original sin.

How do you know he didn't create any after the first sin?

Quote:And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field.

He created harmful plants as part of the punishment for sin. He could have created harmful animal life as well.

It is also possible that these creatures already existed but were changed to make them harmful. All the animals originally ate only plants but now many of them are carnivores.

If it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed, which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive, slight modifications, my theory would absolutely break down.
Charles Darwin

(06-05-2011 11:03 AM)theophilus Wrote: It is also possible that these creatures already existed but were changed to make them harmful. All the animals originally ate only plants but now many of them are carnivores.

First of all; I don't accept the creation story as written down in Genesis. It scientifically doesn't make any sense. My intro was purely ironic and shouldn't be taken as a basis for debate.

Secondly: the bible doesn't state that, so you're just making assumptions. But if God really changed animals into carnivores and/or harmful creatures, I find him an even bigger asshole than before, as he then would punish all animals for the original sin. (Poor bunnies getting devoured, their offspring starving...)

Why did he plant his stupid tree in the first place in the story? It's like putting candy on the table, telling your child he can't taste it and then act as if you're going away (spying on the camera in the adjacent room). But he takes it to a complete psycho level, as every born child is now guilty for it. And those that don't have the luck to be born in a place where your loving god's manual is widely accepted, he will BUUURN. Mmmh, sounds like a compassionate father.

How would you feel if you spent your life in a harsh prison because your great, great, great... great grandfather committed a crime, let's say masturbation? Well, that's what your loving god supposedly had in mind. He acts as a lawmaker, judge, jury and executioner in his own sick puppet show.

The point I'm making in this thread is that the world isn't always a beautiful place; it can be harsh and cruel. The mentioned species are proof of that, that's all.

Parasitic wasps are just lovely. The Spider wasp "... use[s] a single spider as a host for feeding their larvae. They paralyze the spider with a venomous stinger. Once paralyzed, the spider is dragged to where a nest will be built – some wasps having already made a nest."
"A single egg is laid on the abdomen of the spider, and the nest – or burrow – is closed."
"... When the wasp larva hatches it begins to feed on the still-living spider."

How is that for a loving, caring god? Guess he doesn't care about spiders...

"Remember, my friend, that knowledge is stronger than memory, and we should not trust the weaker." - Dr. Van Helsing, Dracula

Belladonna is one of the most toxic plants found in the Western hemisphere. All parts of the plant contain tropane alkaloids. The berries pose the greatest danger to children because they look attractive and have a somewhat sweet taste. The consumption of two to five berries by children and ten to twenty berries by adults can be lethal. The root of the plant is generally the most toxic part, though this can vary from one specimen to another. Ingestion of a single leaf of the plant can be fatal to an adult.

Now THERE is some forbidden fruit!

Nightshade also serves as an ingedient in the medication attropine, which not too surprisingly, many people are "allergic" to. Or it should be stated, a handful of people can use without incident of near-death (my father experienced cardiac arrest from this medication and died several times when he was 13).

Pfff, Belladonna, we used to take that and go partying... Not a good experience, but my God, how powerful it was. Extreme hallucinations, no control at all, but you are aware of what you are doing. Awful.

I have a theory that the truth is never told during the nine-to-five hours.-Hunter S. Thompson